• MP Gevindu Cumaratunga calls for new draft based on SC spl. determination

Opposition Parliamentarian and Yuthukama National Organisation Chairman Gevindu Cumaratunga has requested the Government to withdraw the Central Bank of Sri Lanka (CBSL) Bill which has been presented to the Parliament, and to prepare a new draft to comply with the Supreme Court (SC) special determination on the said Bill.

The SC special determination on the Bill, which was presented to the Parliament on 7 March, was informed to the Parliament by Speaker of Parliament Mahinda Yapa Abeywardana on 3 April. According to the special determination, the SC had found 46 out of the 134 clauses of the Bill to be inconsistent with the Constitution.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (27), Cumaratunga said that although the Attorney General's (AG) Department, on behalf of the Government, had proposed amendments to the said 46 clauses, there is a doubt as to whether the amendments would make those clauses favourable to the country. 

“The AG's Department has proposed amendments. They can be in consistency with the Constitution, but they can even then be unfavourable to the country.”

He further said that when a large number of clauses in a certain Bill is going to be amended at the Committee stage, there is potential for many problematic situations to arise, while omissions may also take place. “There should be no room for a confusing situation with regard to a Bill which affects an institution such as the CBSL. Therefore, we ask the Government to withdraw this Bill and to present a new Bill in line with the SC special determination,” he added.

The Speaker informed the Parliament on 3 April that none of the clauses in the CBSL Bill was inconsistent with the Constitution. Therefore, the Bill, which was presented to the Parliament on 7 March 2023, could be approved by a simple majority in the Parliament, subject to the amendments which are mentioned in the special determination.

Following the delivery of the special determination in the Parliament by Abeywardana, Opposition MPs including Cumaratunga, Udaya Gammanpila and Ven. Athuraliya Rathana Thera had claimed that the manner in which Speaker Abeywardana had informed the Parliament of the said determination was problematic. They had also claimed that the relevant special determination had not been given to MPs.

In response to such allegations, the Speaker's Office had issued a statement on Wednesday (26). “If the MPs have any doubts or ambiguities regarding the matters mentioned in the announcement, the Speaker emphasises that what he intended to communicate in the said announcement is that the SC has decided that the provisions of the CBSL Bill, subject to the amendments proposed by the SC, are not inconsistent with the Constitution. Accordingly, the SC has decided that subject to the amendments mentioned in its determination, the Bill can be passed in the Parliament by a simple majority. The Speaker further informed that the relevant determination has been tabled and published in the Hansard report and that it can be downloaded from the Parliament website,” it read.